Top crimes that plagued India in 2009

Published: Monday, December 28, 2009, 18:12 [IST]

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The year 2009 was marred by several incidents of crime.

From heart wrenching stories of child abuse by teachers to the sex crimes against women which reminded Indians time and again that the country is still unable to provide required protection to women and children from preying criminals.

While some crimes scathed the reputation of a place such as the Goa crimes, criminal trends such as Love Jihad brought to light the simmering religious conflict that still haunts the nation.

1. 'Abusive' CelebritiesAllegations against celebrities including rape charges against Shiney Ahuja, child abuse charges against actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthy and TV actress Urvashi Dholakia, domestic violence charges against singer Adnan Sami and assault charges against Vinod Kambli's wife Anderea came out on the top of the crimes list.

These stories appeal to the public as they reveal the muck of a celebrity's private life and introduce a 'poor' and 'helpless' victim who seeks justice and support from the society.

Shiney's case started in Jun 2009, when he was arrested under rape charges after his 18-year-old domestic help alleged that the actor had raped her at his residence. Soon followed the testimonies of the film fraternity and the fight of the unyielding wife who maintained that her husband was innocent.

2. Acts of discipline, corporal punishment, subversive experiments claim young livesApparent acts of disciplining by the teachers claimed many young and innocent lives in the country.

Aakriti Bhatia, a Class XII student studying at Delhi's Modern School, passed away due to a Asthama attack. The teachers allegedly ignored her calls for help thinking that she was trying to bunk classes.

In another sensational case of corporal punishment, 11-year-old Shannoo Khan slipped into a coma and passed away after she was brutally punished for not doing her homework and for failing to recite the English alphabets.

The teacher allegedly beat the girl's head on the bench and made her stand out in the sun for hours.

It should be noted that these incidents were not the only ones but were the ones that made headlines.

In Tamil Nadu, there were two other cases of child rights violation which created a stir.

A teacher in Villipuram was arrested for using children while performing motorcycle stunts. The video of the stunts performed in a school function shows him riding on a motorcycle on top of children's hands.

In other ghastly incident, a teacher from Dindigul was accused of practicing acupuncture on students along with injecting them with drugs and steroids.

3. Monster teachers prey on studentsThroughout the year, scores of incidents of child abuse were reported in the media. A big part of these cases involved sexual abuse of minors by teachers and school authorities.

Incidents such as a 14-year-old girl raped by the school owner and a Class V student molested by pervert principal, who liked peeping into girls' loos were shamefully common.

4. Goa murdersA mysterious string of murders shocked Goa in Oct 2009. As many as ten dead bodies, some of them mutilated, were found in a span of a week. Out of the ten dead bodies, the police investigated homicide angle into eight.

While four charred bodies of women were found on Oct 12 and Oct 13, the police were baffled further when they fished out four more dead bodies at the Ourem creek.

The women were believed to have been raped before murder. They were burnt to do away with the evidence.

Gomes was convinced that if the women of the house stepped out they would be raped, which led him to take such an extreme step.

The women were barely alive when they were rescued and one of the daughters was literally scarred for life as Gomes had beaten her up so badly that her neck was injured permanently.

6. Bangalore triple murderThe silicon city was jolted by a triple murder in Oct. 45-year-old interior designer Rahul Das, his 38-year-old wife Pushpalatha and 8-year-old daughter Agneeshu were found murdered in the bathroom of their home.

Various reports suggest that as many as 4000 girls have been converted to Islam by 'Jihadi Romeos'.

Christian along with Hindu religious groups such as Vishwa Hindu Parishat (VHP) came together to fight this trend.

8. Honour KillingThe age old shame of honour killing did not spare India even this year. Young girls and boys were sacrificed in the name of honour if they committed the crime of falling in love with or marrying someone against the family's wishes.

There were bagful of incidents this year. A village girl was burnt alive by her neighbours because she had a relationship with a boy from a different caste. In another case, a boy"s hands and legs were chopped off by the residents for marrying a girl from their village.

In a spine chilling incident a family of a married woman killed the husband and held the woman captive for several weeks and subjected her to physical and sexual abuse for marrying a man from the same caste. This incident came to light in Oct 2009

9. Politicians and sex crimesThe year saw several cases of sexual assault charges levelled against politicians. Among the prominent two cases are, molestation charges against a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator and rape case against Goan politician John Fernandes.

In Jul, TDP MLA TV Rama Rao was accused of molesting nursing students from Kerala.

In Dec, a Russian woman alleged that Goan politician John Fernandes tried to rape her in his car. This reminded the country of Scarlet Kneeling case. The country's image further took a beating due to the way the case was handled.

10. Jilted lovers turn to murdersWhile a 27-year-old jilted lover killed a woman before committing suicide in Delhi, another scorned romeo killed his girlfriend on her birthday in Bangalore.

In Jun, the incident of Kishan Pal, who worked as a labourer in a tent house, stabbing a married 32-year-old Asha Devi came to light, raising questions on the motive of illicit relations.

The man later hung himself from the ceiling fan in his house.

In a foul case of jilted lover turning violent, 27-year-old Dushyanth K Sahoo, who was working as a corporal in the Indian Air Force, killed his girlfriend with a rod on her birthday.